Assorted
by Creamlovr777
Summary: A small machine, mysterious power source, and a selfish will was all it took for Tails' life to change into something powerful. But the fox's blessing soon turns into a curse once he has to fight against friends, corruption, and most importantly himself to save the world. Time is running out, and Tails is the only one that can do anything about it... literally.
1. Prologue

**Hey again, I'm back with yet another fanfic. I promise I'll finish this one, promise. I didn't spend 2 years wanting to write this and finally turning it into this mess for nothing. Three things before we start: One: if you have any questions to ask, P.M. me or write them in the review section. Two: please don't ask for your O.C. to be in this fanfic, I already have enough cringey non-canon characters...**

 ***shivers***

 **And three: thanks for reading this. I appreciate it, and I really mean that. I'm glad to know I'm entertaining someone with my crappy, probably boring writing.**

 **Edit: I used to have 2 other prologues on here, but I deleted them.**

 **Happy reading!**

* * *

His hairs stood on edge, but the heavy wind was too cold and strong. It didn't help at all.

There wasn't any shelter around - at least not as far as Tails could walk or see. But it's been hours, he was pretty sure there wasn't any shelter at all around here. Just the opening he was in made by broken, blown down trees.

Eventually, the fox stopped hoping and just sat on the ground. At least it wasn't muddy, right? His scenario wasn't that bad…

Well… it was still pretty bad nonetheless.

Tails's tattered gloves traced the metal on his camera. Through the leftover fabric he could feel its cold surface, and it made a shiver travel down his spine. He ripped the excess off, they were useless anyway. He didn't dare look at the watch that was on his wrist. It would hurt too much.

The kitsune pressed the power button. Immediately a flash of light came from the camera, and it was on standby. He placed it a good distance away from himself and pressed the record button before going back to his spot from before.

"Uh… hi again. It's me, Tails…" He started.

"I'm in a different place than I was before… I wonder why," A forced chuckle escaped his lips.

"Life isn't really going great for me right now, as you can see." The frosty air coming from his mouth became harder to see as seconds passed into the night. "I don't think it'll be getting any better anytime soon…" Tails voice started to crack, because he thought he was right. He knew he was right.

And it was unbearable.


	2. Ignorance

**Hi, readers! If you're reading this, thanks for clicking on this story. Anyways, constructive criticism is appreciated - I'd love to make my writing better. Anyways, Sonic and Tails may be a bit ooc in this(mostly Sonic). If you think this is a problem, please tell me.**

 **Warning: Mild cursing**

 **Happy reading!**

* * *

Chapter One - Ignorance

Although it was six o'clock, the sun still shone glowing as if life was timeless.

Its rays gave no mercy to anyone in Station Square, leaving many to improvise. Everyone used their spare time to go to a pool, head to the ice cream store, and so on; after doing nothing but go for tiring runs and watching the television, Sonic and Tails decided to do the same thing. So on a hot August day, why not head to the beach?

The two brothers didn't have any reason not to… until Sonic realized after ten minutes of being at their destination that it was extremely boring for him. Telling Tails that he had a few "errands" to do, the speedster ran away leaving the fox alone in the dust - not that it bothered him. Relaxing and drinking a slushie was far better to Tails than hearing someone complain about the uneventful place.

Loud, recurring sipping noises came from the plastic cup he drank from. It left a cold, but pleasant feeling on his tongue, and gave him a feeling of hydration. The lapping of the waves hypnotized the kit every time he stared at them, and the feeling of the gritty sand on his bare hands was sensational. Contrary to what his surrogate brother thought, Tails thought it was a great day.

Eventually, his drink was done and he decided to get another one. Composing himself, he started his journey to a small stand a two minute walk away. Once he was at the stand, Tails asked for another slushie. After paying, the kit turned around getting ready to leave, when-

Screams erupted from the people around him. Tails lost his grip on his slushie, bringing all his attention to wherever the screams were coming from. The fox shielded his eyes as a wave of sand inched closer to him and everyone else in a second. Once most of the sand was off of him and he decided that it was okay to open his eyes, Tails stared at a certain mobian that probably not a lot of people liked at that moment:

Sonic the hedgehog looked at everyone apologetically, a small tint of red on his cheeks. "Sorry guys… I guess I was going a bit too fast this time…" A lot of people stared at the cobalt hedgehog with an irritated look on their face, but he didn't notice and instead walked to Tails.

"Heya Tails! Long time no see!"

"Sonic, you just saw me two minutes ag-"

"How are ya?"

"I was fine, until you came and ruined my slushie," Even though he was a bit irked, Tails couldn't ever get mad at his brother and smiled. "You owe me a new one."

"Uh yeah, sorry about that… Anyways, come with me. We have something to do."

Tails' eyes widened for a split second in surprise. Sonic actually had errands to do?

"Do you have it?"

Tails gave the hedgehog a confused look, as he didn't know what he was talking about.

"Wait, you don't. I think I…Just gimme a sec…"

Tails watched Sonic take off one of his gloves and stuff it into his quills. There was a sound of paper crinkling and few rings dropping into the sand, before a paper was finally taken out. To Tails, it only looked like a ripped crumpled mess, making Sonic receive another look of confusion. The hedgehog was losing his patience, so he shoved the paper in the younger's arms. Attempting to flatten the paper first before scanning it, Tails held it up to his face and read the large bold title.

 **"GUARDIAN UNITS OF NATIONS - TERRORIST ACTIVITY LOG"**

"Oh! That…" Suddenly all the energy that Tails had left in his body vanished into thin air. A wave of fatigue came over him.

"Yeah, _that_." Sonic scoffed. "Now let's go."

For almost two months, Sonic had been bringing in a weekly log to G.U.N headquarters in downtown Station Square to report if Doctor Eggman had done anything illegal or suspicious, and always dragged Tails with him. If anyone asked why Tails would respond with,

"For the past few weeks, Doctor Eggman's base has been showing signs of radiation that's a lot like chaos energy. But since we have the chaos emeralds, G.U.N has been keeping watch just in case he's planning to attack the city. They asked Sonic to tell them every week if anything suspicious has been going on with the doctor, since he knows him the most."

On the other hand, Sonic would respond with,

"Eggman's too much of a pussy to fight me one on one, so instead he's being an ass and scaring the city!"

Obviously, the two of them had extremely different points of views and opinions on the subject.

"How long will it take us?" Tails asked.

Usually it would only take Sonic and Tails about five minutes to get to the location because of their speed, but since the temperature was reaching higher than normal, neither of them had enough energy to and had to walk downtown instead. They weren't happy about this, but Sonic still tried to cheer Tails up anyway.

"Look on the bright side, Tails! At least when we come back you'll be able to relax as long as you want. I'll buy you back your slushie, and I'll even buy you ice cream! You can get your favourite flavour, vanilla!"

Tails decided to block Sonic's blabbering after that, due to the fact that vanilla wasn't his favourite flavour. It was mint chocolate chip.

His attention wasn't gained again until Sonic stopped walking. "What's wrong?" Tails asked. He followed the direction of Sonic's finger to the sky.

"What..what is that?" Tails asked. "I've never seen anything like it before."

In the blue skies above them there was a large, dark red cloud, inching towards the tall skyscrapers downtown. "Me neither, but I know it's not good if it's red." Sonic answered. "I think we're gonna have to do something about this, Tails."

"Maybe you should go see what's going on over there," Tails said, pointing towards the way the cloud was coming from. "Eggman must be the responsible for it."

"You're right!" Sonic stared at Tails with a smirk. "I'll go over there. If anything happens I'll just call you." The speedster started a light jog(which wasn't much of a jog and more of a run).

"Okay, be-"

"Oh wait, make sure to bring that paper to the G.U.N place!" The speedster stopped and called.

"Oh, okay." Tails said. "Be-"

Sonic sped off before he could finish his sentence. "Careful…" The fox said staring off into the distance, watching the blue streak disappear.

* * *

Tails noticed the sky had an orange hue to it, for it was finally starting to get dark. Although Tails liked the deep blue skies and the sun out, he didn't mind the night, especially downtown. The bright lights from the buildings against the darkened sky looked amazing, and he wasn't the only one that thought that.

However, his admiration for the city ended once his watch started to ring. Accepting the call from Sonic, Tails listened.

"Tails! I think there's something really bad going on."

"Of course there's something bad going on," Tails answered. "If Eggman's behind it it's always bad."

"I'm serious, Tails." Sonic replied. "I checked the air for nuclear stuff and-"

"Nuclear stuff? You mean _radiation_?"

"Yeah, radiation," The hedgehog's voice was started to become drowned by the sound of wind as he went faster. "I checked how bad the radiation is and it's eighty-seven… mili..si…however you say it!"

"Millisieverts?" Tails murmured, thinking to himself in worry.

 _"Eighty-seven millisieverts… that's not only more than what comes from Eggman's base, but a health hazard…"_ Tails thought.

"Okay, I'll bring the paper to G.U.N and-"

"No forget that, they can wait." Sonic cried. "Can you do me a favour and warn the citizens instead?"

"Okay," Tails replied to his watch. "Be careful."

"Tails, am I ever careful?" Sonic asked jokingly.

The fox hung up and starting thinking of how he would do his task. Maybe get a blow horn from a store nearby? No, that wouldn't work - he didn't know how much time he had on his hands. Maybe he should just tell people face to face? No, that would take too long. After brief thought, Tails accepted that the only thing he could do was…

Scream, shout, and run around.

"Attention everyone!" The fox began. "There is a threat heading towards this area! Please find shelter!"

Nobody listened. Maybe he was too quiet?

"Attention everybody!" Tails said louder than before. "There's a threat heading towards Station Square! Please find shelter!"

A few people turned heads to the kit running around frantically and shouting, but thought nothing of it and walked away.

Tails was getting a little bit bothered and baffled. What was he doing wrong? They should listen to him, right? He was Tails the fox - Sonic the hedgehog's sidekick. They should trust him enough to listen to what he was saying.

He tried again. "Attention every single person!" Tails' throat burned from shouting so loud, and his heart ached from the cardiovascular endurance.

"There's a threat heading towards Station Square! Please find she- ah!"

Tails' body hit the ground harshly. Once he realized he didn't trip, the fox stared upwards. Towering him was a man in a business suit, with his hands folded and a glare on his face.

"Can you be quiet? No one needs to hear you screaming!"

Luckily Tails wasn't like Sonic and liked to calmly talk instead of arguing and making a scene, unless he lost his patience. However, judging by the clothes that the man was wearing, he guessed that it would be a brief conversation. In a slightly raspy voice Tails explained,

"I-I'm sorry sir. I'm just trying to warn the public of…" Tails didn't notice himself trail off as he regretted the stutter he'd made.

"Of what?" The business man's face was tomato red. He was obviously not happy. "All you're doing is bothering us!"

"Well if you'd let me explain sir," Tails started. "There's a threat coming towards Station square as we speak…"

The man took a deep breath to compose himself, much to Tails' fortune.

"How are we supposed to trust you?"

Wait...what? Did this man live under a rock?

"Sir, I'm Tails the fox - Sonic the hedgehog's sidekick." Tails began. "I've been helping around this city for years…" The fox was going to mention that it wasn't just the city, but the world - however, he didn't want to raise the man's temper any more.

"Uh..really?" The human replied. "Wait, how am I supposed to believe you? I don't know if you're brainwashing me or something."

For a business man, the person Tails was talking to was pretty dull. It made the fox stumped. What was he supposed to show to prove that he was a hero? At the corner of his eyes Tails could see a tint of ruby red, and in a second he whipped his right arm from his side and propped it close to the man's face to show him the accessory on his wrist.

"I made this watch. You've probably seen Sonic talk about it on the news… and give me recognition." Tails said.

"I've seen that before…" A smile was starting to appear on Tails' face, until…

"But what if you bought a fake one off of a site?"

Tails' jaw clenched and he sighed in frustration. "I _did not_ buy this watch off of a site. I made this myself, and it bothers me that you think that something that took so much effort to make was bought off of a website."

"That's what someone who bought it off of a site would say."

"You know, for a business man, you lack a lot of knowledge." Tails said with a raised voice, which only made the man angrier. However, he didn't care because he was starting to lose his own patience.

"What did you just say? I'll have to know that I work at that building over there!" The man pointed at a tall skyscraper.

"Then can you please go over there and stop wasting time?!"

Tails watched the business man's hand quickly grab the watch on his wrist before pulling it, almost making the fox lose his balance. Once the watch's band became loose from force, the human threw it to the pavement beneath them and watched it smash to pieces beyond repair. Tails' breath hitched and he froze, eyes locked on the mess on the ground. It felt as if time stopped - not knowing what to do next, all voices and noises drowned out; it left an extremely thick tension. Slowly, Tails' head turned from facing the pieces of his watch to the man's eyes, which were full of venom and ignorance.

"I'm back Tails! Turns out nothing was coming from Eggman's base and I was just overreacting!" Sonic walked over to his brother, expecting an answer. When he didn't hear a response, he became a little worried. "Uh… what's going on here?"

Tails flinched to the sound of his brother's voice and started to pant from the period without air. Without second thoughts, he lifted his arm slowly before pointing to the remnants of his watch.

"He...he…" Tails was in too much shock to make a sentence.

"Sonic… the hedgehog?" Sonic's attention was split from his brother to the man who said his name. "I'm so honoured to meet you."

The cobalt hedgehog stared at the stranger as he raised his hand, wanting a handshake. Impulsively, Sonic gathered as much saliva he could in his mouth before projecting it perfectly on the human's fingers.

"Get the hell out of my sight." Sonic quietly said, owning a glare that quickly made the businessman run away. He then turned towards Tails. The fox was looking into the distance, seeming to be lost in thought.

"Tails."

The fox jumped in surprise, before looking at Sonic. "I'm so sorry Sonic - I don't know what happened and nobody believed me and-"

"It's okay." Sonic said, turning around and looking at the sky. "I think we're a little bit too late though…"

Tails didn't know what the other mobian was talking about until he turned around and looked up as well. In the orange sky the red cloud was moving closer and closer, starting to cover most parts of their area. Suddenly, Sonic's eyes widened and the hedgehog flinched, which caught Tails' eye.

"What's wrong?" He asked his older brother.

"A raindrop landed on me..." Sonic stayed, still in shock. "But I don't think they're normal ones."

"What do you mean?" Tails had no idea what his surrogate brother was talking about, or whether he was serious or not.

"When the rain touches me-" Sonic flinched once again from another raindrop. "It feels like chaos energy."

A drop landed on Tails' nose. Even though he didn't flinch, he could feel a slight surge of energy travel through him. "This is dangerous, Sonic. We have to tell everyone ab-"

"Forget that," Sonic started. "It's their fault for not listening to you."

The cobalt hedgehog tried to look towards the sky, when a raindrop landed in his eye.

"Ow!" Sonic cupped his hands around his eye in pain. "It's coming from that red cloud!"

"That means it's probably chaos energy…" Tails trailed off.

"Shit." Sonic cursed. "We need to get to the G.U.N building right now-"

"Ahhh!"

Sonic and Tails turned back around in unison to see dozens of people screaming on the ground writhing in pain. The brothers stared at each other in horror before running to someone to aid them.

"Are you okay ma'am?" Tails frantically asked. The woman in front of him strained to turn and stare at the fox.

"The rain… i-it hurts…" The woman stated.

"Sonic!" Tails cried, making said hedgehog pay him attention. "It's the rain!"

"I know…" Sonic grumbled while he helped a teenager get up from the ground. "We gotta make everyone stay inside."

"Everybody!" Tails yelled, making citizens turn heads. "Find the nearest shelter and stay in there!"

They stood in shock and confusion.

"Don't just stand there!" The blue hedgehog screamed at them. "Listen to him and get inside!"

Finally people hurried inside buildings, leaving Sonic and Tails with no problem except for the injured citizens…

"Sonic," Tails asked suddenly. "What's G.U.N going to say about this?"

Sonic froze and stared at Tails with widened eyes.

Scratch that - they had _two_ problems.

* * *

Once everyone was inside and the "rain" stopped, agents, officers, and detectives immediately scanned the area. Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails were escorted to the G.U.N headquarters, where they were located to a small office on a higher floor of the tall skyscraper to wait for their "guest" to come. Neither of the two were happy to find out the guest was the infamous commander, one loved by all of Sonic's friends.

Once the familiar human entered the room, Tails noticed that the temperature rose higher - or at least that's what it felt like to him. However, once a feeling of butterflies were accompanied, the fox realized that someone didn't just turn up the heater. It was times like this Tails was happy he could count on Sonic to do all of the talking, especially if it associated with people that were disliked. Patiently, he watched the speedster argue with the elderly man whilst sipping from a small paper cup filled with water.

"I am very disappointed in you, Mr. hedgehog." Commander stated, looking Sonic straight in the eye.

"Why? I did my job." The other arrogantly said, shooting daggers at the human.

"Barely," Commander took a sip of his coffee before continuing. "If you were an agent at this facility, you would've been out of these doors by now.

"Well lucky for you, I'm not."

"I may have been lucky, but the injured citizens weren't."

"Look, that wasn't our problem. At the end of the day it was their responsibility if they wanted to listen to us or not, and they didn't."

"You are fully aware that if it was _you_ who was warning the city, there wouldn't be any problem in the first place."

Tails' breath hitched, and guilt struck him in the chest.

Sonic's eyes widened in shock and anger. "Are you trying to say that I shouldn't trust my _own_ brother?"

"No, of course not." Commander's eye contact never moved away from the cobalt hedgehog's emerald eyes. "I'm just trying to say... you should be careful who you choose to help you with your tasks."

"That's it, we're leaving." Sonic angrily said, pushing in his chair so hard that it moved the table. "Here's the stupid paper that you wanted."

The speedster shoved the paper in the human's cup of coffee before grabbing Tails and turning towards the door.

Neither of the mobians looked back to say goodbye when they left the room.

* * *

For some odd reason, Tails stayed quiet during the trip home. Sonic attempted to make conversation with him, like asking if he wanted to get ice cream before they went home. Surprisingly, Tails turned the offer down, but the speedster thought nothing of it.

 _"Tails is probably just sad about his watch or something."_ Sonic thought.

He wasn't wrong, but that wasn't the only feeling he had. Oblivious to his surrogate brother, Tails felt extremely guilty. What the commander said bothered him to the fullest, to the point that he agreed with him - Tails didn't think he was completely useless, but nothing would have happened if Sonic was alone, including the demolition of his watch.

The watch… that bothered him a lot too. However, it wasn't because of the amount of time it would take to make another one - he made an extra just in case.

But… that was the problem.

Every time Tails thought of the extra watch he had in his dresser, it made him shiver. It also made him dread going home that day, because he knew that he'd have to look at it. Unfortunately for the fox, the two brothers made it home in about five minutes. Once inside, Tails didn't hesitate to walk upstairs to his bedroom while saying,

"I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

The fox closed the door to drown out the sound of his brother saying anything, afraid of his reaction. He walked his bed and sat on it, creating wrinkles he tried so hard to remove when he made the bed that morning - but he didn't care at that point. He became lost in thought as he stared at the dresser in front of him.

He didn't have to. He could ignore it. He had self control… right?

Wrong.

Tails couldn't stop himself from opening the first dresser compartment, revealing the brand new-looking watch. He took it out and stared at it, before doing something he knew he would regret - pressing a few buttons. The screen buffered before a voice memo could be heard.

It was only the first five seconds, and Tails could feel tears form in his eyes. He couldn't cry - not over something so petty, something that was probably a joke…

Right?

What if it wasn't? That question alone along with the words coming from his watch allowed a few tears to travel down his cheeks and for him to sniffle. Not being able to bare it anymore, the kit quickly stopped the voice memo and turned the watch off before stuffing it in its previous spot. He forced his face into his pillow, allowing it to soak in the salty tears that left his eyes and drown the sound of his sniffs while thinking of the previous events that happened that day. It was all that happened until Tails drifted off into a deep slumber - a depressing way to end the day, but he could argue that it wasn't the worst.

Besides, he should've been used to it by now; it wasn't the first time it's happened.


	3. Disturbance

**So... that was a pretty long hiatus. Ehh... I apologize. That's all I have to say about that.**

 **As for this chapter, take note. It has** ** _a lot_** **of foreshadowing.**

 **Warning: More mild cursing**

 **Happy reading!**

* * *

Chapter Two - Disturbance

The depression of the day before drifted away the next morning. However, something else took its place, Tails realized after a quiet groan.

Aches and pains were never Tails' favourite, although he was all too familiar with them. Remembering all the times he fell asleep the wrong way in his workshop or in the Tornado temporarily kept him from remembering _why_ his body was hurting in the first place. The realization hit him, making him want to suffocate himself in the same pillow which soaked his tears the night before; the irony of it all gave the fox just enough motivation to get out of bed and away from the comfortable item at all costs.

Meanwhile, Sonic whistled to an unknown tune as he finished preparing the last "details"(as in dumping about half a can of chilli) on his hot dogs. He didn't recall his brother trot down the stairs until he heard a loud "thump!" which didn't seem very familiar. The cobalt hedgehog walked out of the kitchen to find Tails on the ground at the end of the staircase, barely moving an inch.

"Uh… Tails?"

Although he'd been taking care of the kit for a while now, Sonic didn't know much about what to do, especially in a situation like this. He proceeded to check Tails' pulse(which was obviously there) and poke and prod at his golden yellow fur.

"Tails, I know you're alive." Sonic teased, although he didn't know if it was the right time to. Finally he received a muffled answer that he could barely comprehend:

"Good morning Sonic," it sounded like, but with much less enthusiasm than usual. Sonic became a little bit worried.

"You okay lil' bro?" It may have been a stupid question, but the hedgehog didn't know what to do at this point.

"Yeah, just… hurting." Tails replied.

Sonic rolled his eyes and picked his brother up with ease. He ignored the small yelp which came from the body he was holding and half-threw, half-placed Tails on the nearest couch, making sure they were facing each other.

"What's wrong?" It didn't really sound like a question but more of a statement.

"Nothing… I just hurt."

"Why?" The interrogation left Sonic's voice and became filled with curiosity. The innocence along with the question filled Tails's stomach with butterflies and regret.

"I fell."

Fortunately the fox was quick to come up with something, although he wasn't sure whether it was true or not… scratch that, he definitely knew it wasn't true. But it was just a white lie, it wouldn't hurt anyone, right? Tails was suffocated in another guilt trip as he watched his brother accept the answer without hesitation. Their relationship was _completely_ honest, no lies.

No lies whatsoever.

None.

Tails' mental argument prevented him from noticing Sonic's absence until he walked back with a cup of water and a small container of Tylenol. When the kit grabbed the glass he could feel the condensation seep through his gloves and into his fur, and tried to make sure it didn't slip out of his hands. But, he didn't hold it tight enough and the cup slipped out of his hands and fell to the floor, shattering into pieces and making a mess.

Sonic chuckled as he stared at his brother's shocked face, his arm still in its position before the accident.

"What's with the face?" Sonic's question broke Tails out of his trance, making him look up at the hedgehog with a guilty frown.

"Sorry…" Tails said quietly, almost afraid of what Sonic's reaction would be.

"It's fine lil' bro," Sonic carefully picked up the large pieces of glass and put them in his hand. "What's with ya' today?"

"I-I don't know… maybe I'm sick or something." Another obviously true statement.

"Well if that's the case, I know what'll make you feel better!"

"Really?" Tails began to think of all the possibilities; maybe they would go eat ice cream, or maybe go to the movie theatre downtown?

"I'll tell you after we eat breakfast, I promise you'll love it!"

"A run."

"Yeah bud," Sonic said as he flicked through T.V shows on Netflix, "it's a nice day today, and it's early enough so we won't have to sign any autographs!"

 _"You mean you don't have to sign any autographs."_ Tails thought. The Tylenol he ingested took away the pain in his body, but soon another type of pain took its place: disappointment.

Sonic frowned as he looked at the younger's deadpan expression. "What's with the long face, bro? Runs are way past cool…" A small frown started to grow on the hedgehog's face when he turned from the television to Tails.

The said fox felt the guilt trip and tried to fix the situation. "I uh, mean," he stammered, "why don't we try something new?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "That's funny Tails, coming from a scaredy cat like you-"

A phone rang loudly. Sonic walked to it and picked it up, Tails watching him hold the phone to his ear with a smirk on his face.

"Heeellloooo, fastest thing alive speaking!"

There were incoherent words coming from the other line.

"Oh, hey Ms. Vanilla! How are ya?"

…

"Yeah, her birthday's coming up, right?"

…

"Really?"

…

"Hell yea- I mean," Sonic cleared his throat. "Of course, Tails and I would love to! We'll be there in an hour. See you later!"

The cobalt hedgehog hung up the phone and looked at the kit with a wide smile on his face.

"What did she say?" Tails asked.

"Well," Sonic started with a sing-song voice. "Ya' know how Cream's birthday is coming up?"

"Yeah."

"Vanilla is taking her to Twinkle Park."

"And…"

"And we're invited, bro!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Cool."

"That's all you have to say Tails, really?" Sonic frowned at Tails once again, his hands at his sides. "After you wanted to 'try something new'... what's up with you lately?"

"I… must be really sick." Sonic didn't believe it this time.

"You know what, never mind. Twinkle Park is so cool that it should get your mood back up." Sonic smirked. "Go in the shower and get ready, we're leaving in an hour!"

With a small smile, Tails went up the stairs to the bathroom. _"Maybe I'm just in a bad mood,"_ he thought. Yeah, that had to be it. And this would definitely cheer him up. He was going to Twinkle Park for Mobian's sake! He'll have a ton of fun, and he'd be feeling better by the time him and Sonic get home that night.

If only things went as planned.

* * *

"Y'know Ms. Vanilla, you didn't have to pay for my cab fee," Sonic fidgeted with his seatbelt in the car. "I'm the fastest thing alive, I could've made it to Twinkle Park in less than five."

"I know Sonic, but I just want all of us to stay together." Ms. Vanilla replied from the shotgun. "You know how crowded Station Square can be, especially at Twinkle Park, and there can be some dangerous people around."

Tails ignored the conversation that was going on and instead opted to look out the window, until someone tapped his shoulder. Turning his head, he wasn't surprised to see Cream smiling at him.

"Hi Mr. Tails!" Cream greeted. "I like your watch."

The fox looked in the direction the rabbit was pointing to, his extra watch that he, reluctantly, brought along with him. "Thanks Cream." Tails replied, noticing the blush on her face. What was with her? Why was she complimenting a watch Tails made months ago? Was he so invisible that she didn't notice it? He frowned upon himself, a pit of regret in his stomach making him wonder if he should've brought the watch at all - all it seemed to do was make him feel worse.

"Tails, we're here!" The fox was disturbed from his thoughts once he heard Sonic call him. He got out of the taxi and his heart dropped.

Dozens of rollercoasters swirled around him, the carts on them whipping at fast speeds. The lights used to mimic a starry sky blinded his sky blue eyes, and the sounds of screaming, amusement park rides, and music deafened his ears. Tails took one last look at the taxi as it swerved away from sight. It looked extremely alluring.

"Tails, stop looking in the distance and let's go already!" Sonic called out to him with a toothy grin, he was obviously ready to go to Twinkle Park. "Aren't ya excited?"

A small, pathetic "yeah…" was all that came from the fox's lips, before timidly following his brother. His heart sank to his stomach and the familiar feeling of anxiety overcame him.

This was going to be fun…

* * *

"Tails, I swear to Mobius if we go on one more kiddie ride," Sonic didn't finish his sentence as he looked at the fox in annoyance.

"D-don't worry, we're just having a warm up…" Tails stammered nervously. "Besides, doesn't _The U.F.O_ look pretty cool?"

"You mean that stupid excuse for a teacup ride over there?" Sonic pointed to said ride. "Hey Cream, do you think _The U.F.O_ looks fun?"

"Well...uhm…" Cream looked at Sonic and Tails in confusion before the hedgehog whispered something in her ear. "I'm really sorry Mr. Tails, but it doesn't."

Tails looked at Sonic with a defeated look in his eyes.

"See Tails, no one wants to go on the tiny rides." Sonic teased.

"It's okay if you're scared Tails, I'm not too fond of the bigger rides either," Ms. Vanilla tried to sympathize.

"Wait a minute." Sonic's emerald eyes widened. "You're just too scared, aren't you?"

"What! Of course I'm not!" Tails argued back, a little too soon for anyone to believe him.

"What happened to the person who said "why don't we try something new?" huh?" Sonic mocked the fox with a silly voice.

Tails sighed. "Fine… we can go on _The Rocket…_ "

"Yes! Finally!" Sonic cheered, embarrassing himself by doing a little "hooray" dance.

"Calm down before you break-dance and embarrass all of us."

"After _The Rocket_ , we can go on _The Shooting Star_ , and then we can go on the super cool _Black Hole-_ actually that's the best one, we have to save that one for last! We can-"

Tails drowned out the rest of the speedster's words. This couldn't turn out that bad, right?

* * *

Well, it _actually didn't_ for once in Tails' life.

The rides were actually fun, and the trio(Ms. Vanilla opted to stay away and watch) went on almost every ride - only due to Sonic's fear of the water coasters, Tails made a mental note to tease him on that later - and everyone was having a great time.

"Man, I'm starving." Sonic said. "Why don't we stop for some food, go on _The Black Hole_ , and call it a night?" Tails, Cream, and Ms. Vanilla agreed and they all made their way to the food court.

"The court is looking very crowded today. Let's make sure we all stay together." Ms. Vanilla stated. The younger Mobians obeyed and tried to make sure they were close.

The court was way more crowded than everyone anticipated, and a lot of "excuse me's" and "sorry's" had to be said, to Sonic's slight dismay and lack of patience. Tails could've sworn the buzz itself in the area he was in was ten times louder than the screams on the park rides, and even as someone with keen hearing, he had to rely on eyesight to navigate.

The fox bumped into a man, who dramatically fell on the floor with an extremely loud screech. It muted everyone in the food court. Tails' breath hitched, and he became confused. Did he break the man's bones? He really hoped he didn't, but it sounded like he was in agonizing pain.

The man promptly got up, shoving anyone that was close to him for room. He spun around and looked Tails straight into his eyes. The man looked as if he was about to _completely snap_.

" **What the hell is wrong with you? How _dare_ you push me down**?" The man somehow screamed even louder than before with widened, crazy eyes. Tails was completely frozen in place, with his heart beating faster than light and his thoughts in his mind going just as fast.

"Hey! Don't talk to my brother like tha-" Sonic couldn't finish his sentence as he was whipped away with just slap, crashing into a table a few metres away. As the gasps of shock were made, it was clear he couldn't save Tails this time.

" **Speak to me before I kill you, you sad excuse of an animal!** " The bold, slurred voice screamed at Tails once again. The fox could feel tears forming in his eyes. His eyesight was getting blurry, and he couldn't hear anything, it was all blocked out. The feeling… the feeling of pure fear overcame him, his legs started to feel like jelly, his hands turned numb… it was all so… familiar.

The bloodshot eyes the man used to bore into Tails' soul with only a stare.

 _Was he under the influence… or was he tired of your bullshit?_

The screaming that caused hundreds of people to stop what they were doing.

 _Was he screaming for no reason… or was it because that was the only way you would listen to him?_

The death threats that hit him like a bullet with fear.

 _Was he exaggerating… or does he really have a plan to murder you? Has he really went over his plans? Have you found them in a secret stash, hidden beneath all those happy memories that left years ago?_

The violence of a loved one.

 _Was he hurting someone for no reason… or was he doing it because he was planning to save you for the end? Planning you to be the first to go?_

 _Because the plan didn't work. He left first._

 _He… left first._

At first it was confusing. He didn't know what he was telling himself. But it slowly came back… before rushing into his memory. Everything that was tucked away years ago, that Tails should've moved on from. It was all coming back.

And then the panic came.

The police arrived at the scene immediately, taking the delusional man away from the amusement park. Sonic ran through the crowd as fast as he could, trying so hard to get to his brother. Once he arrived, Tails stood with wide eyes, not moving an inch. Tears cascaded down his eyes and soaked into his raised fur.

The cobalt hedgehog stared at him straight in the eye, his heart beating faster than his legs could ever take him.

"Tails."

Nothing.

"Tails."

…

Nothing again. The hedgehog looked at Ms. Vanilla in fear. Sho was hugging Cream, who was silently weeping. The young rabbit was too afraid to make a noise.

After a moment of silence, Sonic made a deep sigh.

"Miles."

" _Miles, you fuc-_ "

Tails gasped. A wave of nausea hit him. He gasped for air, as much as possible. It was too crowded in here. It was hot and...and … he needed to breathe! He needed to get out! If he didn't he would die! He had to go _now_.

"Tails, calm down-"

Tails ran past his brother. He ran through the crowd. He shoved anyone in his way. He ran. He ran. He ran. He _ran_. And kept running, and running, and running. He ignored Sonic's cries. He ignored the citizens' frantic banter. He ignored Twinkle Park's flashing lights and the noise that bothered him before. Because he couldn't ignore one thing: _history_.

And it drove him insane, far into the night.


	4. The Conclusion

**This chapter is pretty long, but it's(finally!) where things start to go down.**

 **Happy reading!**

 **Edit: After yet another hiatus (I need to stop doing this) I edited some slight parts I didn't like. A new chapter should be coming soon. :)**

* * *

Chapter Three - The Conclusion

Nightmares occured throughout Tails' unfortunate night, varying from the scenario that gave him a panic attack, to some more… personal, frightening things that the fox tried so hard to keep embedded in his memory. Needless to say, the fox didn't get much sleep, and it showed the next morning. Although once the sun came out he could get at least two more hours of sleep, Tails' fatigue along with the state of shock he was still in and the stress that came with the sleeping issues surely wouldn't give him the passing stare that he usually got.

Well… not from Sonic at least.

"Sonic…" Tails thought, and it gave him an queasy feeling in his stomach. He knew he wouldn't get away with the debacle that happened last night without any explanation from him. Unless…

Judging from the sight of outside, the sun was just about to finish rising, it was still early. Sonic wasn't a late sleeper, but he wasn't an early bird either. Maybe Tails could sneak downstairs, get a cup of water, and try to distract himself with a book.

He tiptoed downstairs, trying his best not to make any noise. After passing the vacant living room and going to the kitchen, he grabbed a glass, the pitcher from the fridge, poured himself a cup of fruit punch(he changed his mind, he needed as much sugar as possible), and walked to the dining room.

Which was where he saw Sonic.

Sonic sat at the dining table, facing him. He was sitting still, both arms neatly on the surface with his hands intertwined. His face was stern, a thin line made by his lips replacing his usual smirk. There wasn't any usual chili dog covered in too many beans and too much sauce, no fidgeting coming from the self-proclaimed "tiredless" speedster. He wasn't even a speedster at this point; instead a quiet, serious hedgehog who was staring way too deep into Tails' eyes.

"Good morning Tails," Sonic greeted. "Would you like to have a seat?"

Tails didn't know what else to do than to sit in the nearest chair to him, which was coincidentally facing Sonic. Great.

A deep sigh escaped Sonic's lips. "You didn't get any sleep, did you?"

The fox shamefully shook his head.

"I… I'm sorry…. about last night." Tails was paying less attention to his tired, strained voice, or the tears forming and threatening to spill from his eyes, and more to the look on his brother's face that looked more like disappointment than anything else to him.

"Tails. Why are you apologizing? I'm not mad at you." Sonic said. "If anything I… I'm more upset." Tails' eyes widened.

"No, not at you! At myself, actually." The cobalt hedgehog started to familiarly fidget at his hands, and although it wasn't positive at all, it still gave Tails a little bit of warmth.

"Anyways," Sonic started once again, "What happened last night? You just went… off."

The question didn't really surprise the fox, he was expecting it to come sooner or later. But he still didn't know how to respond. "I… don't know," Tails lied, now fidgeting his finger with nervousness.

"I guess it was just the screaming and everything and… I didn't like it."

There was a long silence. Tails looked down in his lap . He disappointed Sonic, and lied to him. He was an awful being, who lies to their-

"Was it the bullies?"

Tails' head snapped up in disbelief. Sonic's eyes widened.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to! I'm not forcing you to say anything, I just…know they used to scare you a lot…" He trailed off.

"No, it wasn't." The younger wasn't lying.

"Okay…" It was Sonic's turn to look downwards.

"You didn't do anything bad, you know." Tails commented.

"Yeah, but, you're my brother. I should be caring for you better. I'm your guardian for mobian's sake!" Sonic didn't notice any sudden movements. "I feel like I'm doing a really shitty job at being a good brother. I should've been there for you, I should've…" His cobalt ears flattened to his head.

"Sonic, it's okay. You did everything you could. I'm fine now anyways-"

"Fine? Tails, you had a panic attack! I didn't even follow you when you left! What if you weren't even home? I was lucky that you actually found your way back in the state you were in." The stern look was long gone from Sonic's face and was replaced with worry, panic, and shame.

"But that was yesterday… yeah, I'm still tired, but I'm fine now. Besides, that guy is gone now, right?" Although Tails really wasn't having the best day of his life, he still wanted Sonic to feel better than he was right now. A sad Sonic was never a good one.

"Yeah, turns out he was doing more than just going on the theme park rides." Sonic chuckled lightly, and to his delight a small smile rose on his brother's face. "Anyways… promise me you'll come to me if anything bad happens. I'm here for you."

"I promise." That vow was broken before it was even made. "Do you mind if I go for a walk, just to… clear my head a bit?"

Sonic was hesitant at first, but... "Sure, promise me you'll come back and get some sleep though. You don't look like great."

"I promise." That was something Tails could promise. He then left out the door.

Sonic stared at the glass that wasn't touched throughout the whole conversation. He… knew there was something Tails was hiding, something small. It definitely had to do with his sad mood lately and what happened the day before. "I guess he'll tell me when he's ready.", the cobalt hedgehog thought. In the meantime, he had some errands to do.

* * *

It was one thing to note that, although it was around seven o'clock in the morning, downtown Station Square was still crowded. So Tails didn't get to have the peaceful walk he wanted to have. It was another thing to note, however, that a bunch of citizens walking around didn't render his eyesight of what he was really there for.

Station Square was a large city, infamous not only for the main location of the many G.U.N headquarters, but also for the location of where Sonic inhabited. Well, where Tails and Sonic inhabited, but no one ever paid attention to that part. Or did they? The fox wa going to put that to the test.

It's easy for media to be shared using technologic billboards, so it was no surprise that they were everywhere. The majority of the media? The "Sonic gang", everyone liked to call it.

Dozens displayed the blue hedgehog on it, smiling for the camera with his trademark thumbs up and smirk. Sonic was photogenic and loved the attention, no doubt about it. Other boards displayed the rest of the friend group, but there was one blatant issue that never seemed to come across anyone's mind.

Tails had lived in Station Square for years, and throughout the entire time, he's never seen a picture of himself. Anywhere. At all.

The fox wanted to prove to himself that he was wrong. So, he searched every single billboard, every single media coverage that tried to stand out to everyone downtown. He couldn't find one. It was as if he wasn't real in the first place.

Tails was looking through a magazine left at a bus stop when flashing lights blinded his eyes. He'd missed a billboard. It was a screen that used skyscraper windows to technologically display pictures. The skyscraper belonged to Sonic Heroes, some dumb magazine company that desperately used any news about them to profit. It had eight dots at the bottom; eight slides that rotated. Tails counted on his fingers. That was just about everyone of his friends, including himself. He had to be there, so he sat on the bus stop bench and waited.

The first one was Sonic; an average photo of him happily posing and smiling, giving a wink. It was odd to think that he was completely different that morning, but Tails decided not to think about that. The next slide should be him anyway. Him and Sonic were a package, best friends, brothers.

The next slide was Amy, cutely smiling into the camera. Well, Sonic and Amy were a popular couple, so that was understandable. The next should be hi-

Cream and Cheese, shyly waving. Amy and Cream were good friends, so that was understandable too. Tails and Cream were… around the same age, so he had to be next, right?

No, it was Rouge, also winking like Sonic but more seductively. Tails really didn't have any explanation. Maybe the slides were just random.

Next was Knuckles, cracking his hands with a glare on his face. Then it was Shadow, really not looking in the mood for a photo at all. The Chaotix, Vector counting money, Charmy doing some annoying happy expression like he always was, and Espio crossing his arms, not looking like he wanted to be there either.

Finally, the last slide was coming. It had to be Tails, no doubt about it. Who else was there anyway? So, Tails patiently yet excitingly waited for his face to show up. Would it be him flying his tornado? Or maybe him holding a tool, or mayb-

The picture loaded. It was a picture of Silver using telekinesis and smiling into the camera. There were words on the bottom that read, "Is Silver the hedgehog really coming to visit Station Square?".

So… Tails really wasn't there. He had no media coverage whatsoever. He was completely invisible. He stared at the screen in disbelief before looking down at the ground in sadness, still gripping the magazine.

No one cared about him. He was just, ignored. No wonder the business man didn't know him, nobody did. It made him wonder… what would happen if something bad happened to him? What if he got hurt? Not the average scrape he may get from Eggman, but a real accident. No one would care…

No, people would obviously find out, Tails shouldn't think like that. He would get a lot of attention…

Interesting.

So… what if some random accident happened to cause Tails to get hurt? It would cost him to feel some pain and get another worried Sonic, of course, but… it seemed worth it if somebody, anybody, could look at him. It was innocent and easy enough to work…

Nah.

"That's too crazy and selfish." Tails thought to himself.

He was fine with being invisible. He wasn't important anyway.

* * *

"The mayor would be happy to see you now, sir."

Doctor Eggman Nega got up from his seat in the lounge room, and followed the mobian secretary down the hall. On its walls were pictures and awards; either the mayor himself posing with mobians, or certificates and medals with mobian names on it.

Mobians. They irritated the man.

The secretary opened the grand doors for Nega, before leaving once he was inside. The mayor's room was extremely vintage; soft, red carpet covering the floors, beige coloured walls, bookshelves with books that were probably published over a hundred years ago; it made the villain think of his own hated, evil ancestor from two-hundred years ago.

"Greetings Nega, I'm happy to see you." The mayor said, sitting in his vintage lounge chair. "What would you like to speak to me about today?"

"Greetings, mayor." The chair Nega sat in was unfamiliarly soft and cushioned, with fabric over it, not anything like the average stainless steel chairs you would see anywhere in the city. "I've come to suggest a proposition."

"If it's about blowing the world up, you can leave now."

* * *

"Finally, I'm finished!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed, finishing the final touches on his newest evil machine.

Orbot looked at it confusingly before asking the villain, "What is it, sir?"

"Yeah, it just looks like a stupid box to me." The red robot's counterbot, Cubot stated.

"Silence, both of you! You'll find out eventually. Now all we need to do is wait until the public dies down before I unleash the greatest project to ever come out of my lab!"

Unbeknownst to the doctor, he wasn't the only(living) being in his said lab.

"Hear that Shads? Egghead's got a new machine." Rough whispered to Shadow, who rolled his eyes.

"Yes Rouge, I'm not deaf." Shadow said. "Now can we please get out of this vent? I don't trust you leading the way no matter how echolocation you use."

"Ha ha Shadow, very funny." Rough sarcastically said. "Actually, the vent we're supposed to exit from his this one right under me."

"That's way too close to the doctor. That's only a few metres away from him. There isn't any ventilation farther from him?"

"Of course there is, but that would ruin the fun." Rouge joked, making Shadow sigh. "And don't complain, it's not like you can see the next vents anyway."

Shadow realised she had a point.

The bat slowly moved backwards so the vent door was in front of her. Then, she quietly removed it from the ceiling they were above and placed it on the over side of the opening. Finally, she flew out and landed safely on the floor.

"Your turn Shadow." Rouge casually said, as if Dr. Eggman's ceiling wasn't two storeys high.

"Rouge I refuse to to land from this high." The bat barely heard from her G.U.N counterpart.

"C'mon Shads, just use the rockets on your shoes."

"Those make noise."

"And you call yourself The Ultimate Lifeform," Rouge mumbled.

"What was that?" Shadow asked.

"Nothing," Rouge looked from the corner of her teal eyes mischievously. "Just jump down, I promise I'll catch you."

"I refus-"

"Remember the mission, Shadow."

After a short moment, Shadow plummeted. Rough could've sworn that she'd heard a small yelp from him as he landed into her arms bridal style.

"See, that wasn't so bad," Rouge teased. "I wonder what Sonic would say if he found out about this…"

Shadow quickly leaped out of her arms, crossing his own with a red face. "Don't you dare tell him!"

Rouge giggled to herself. It was a wonder why every time she mentioned Sonic to the ebony hedgehog he would get embarrassed.

"All right, we both know the drill." The bat said.

Rouge and Shadow quietly scanned Dr. Eggman's base, all without said villain knowing. While Rouge checked the ceilings and walls for anything unusual, Shadow scanned robots for chaos energy. Rouge flew from the high window panels and to Shadow.

"I got nothing, what about you?" Rouge asked him.

"Just as much as you," Shadow blocked a ladybug badnik from coming any closer to him by putting a hand on its forehead. "This is completely useless, don't you think instead of assuming Sonic's doing a shitty job at noticing bad what's going on at this base, Commander should realise there's literally nothing here?"

"Yeah, but, you know commander." Rouge looked around one more time. Shadow had looked at every robot, machine, and mechanism except for the box Eggman was still marveling at, and…

"Did you check that one?" Rouge pointed to a small, turquoise and gold, cylinder machine that automatically moved by itself.

"It just looks like a vacuum cleaner to me."

"What vacuum cleaner makes red smoke?"

Shadow stopped scanning the badnik and tiptoed closer to the object, with Rouge following suit. He proceeded to scan the object, when his eyes widened and a frown grew on his muzzle.

"What's wrong?" Rouge tried to peek at the remote-looking tool in his hand but he turned it away.

"It's… weird." Shadow had an unsure tone in his voice, "it's not chaos energy… but it is?"

"What are you talking about Shadow?"

"The radiation level is exactly eighty-seven millisieverts."

"Woah… that's way more than all seven Chaos Emeralds." Rouge stated.

"No shit sherlock, we have to tell Commander about thi-"

"Hold on," Rouge interrupted. "I don't think we should."

"What?" Shadow turned to Rouge with an even more baffled look on his face. Her eyelids lowered.

"We don't know anything about this yet, and you know Commander. He doesn't think twice about things - he'll probably screw everything up if we tell him."

"Then what do you supposed we do?" Shadow didn't argue, she had a very true point.

"We keep tabs on this, and research as much as we can about it. Got any more info?"

"Uh…" Shadow looked at the machine and noticed its label. "Oh, here's something."

"Whaddya got?"

"It's called Onyx."

* * *

 **Hmm. I wonder what Onyx is? :P**


	5. A Change of Heart

**Hey everyone! Happy spring break! I edited the last chapter slightly and finally finished this one. This chapter is the last bit of slow burn before we can finally get to the good part. However, it's still important. My writing might be a little bit rusty since it's been a while since I've written. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

 **Happy reading!**

* * *

Chapter Four - A Change of Heart

" _Idiotic_ Mobians!" Doctor Eggman Nega yelled. He ignored the stares of rattled civilians near him, murmuring and mumbling offensive remarks under their breath. They were used to Nega's short tantrums outside of the mayor's building. It happened once a month. Everyone took note of it.

Nega was aware of the public's detest, and despised them back. How dare they look at him like a monster? The human stalked to his car and drove to his small apartment located in downtown Old Station Square.

Slamming the door behind him after entering his home, Nega walked to his living room, sat on the couch, and turned on the television.

" _Breaking news folks! Once again, the infamous Doctor Eggman Nega has reportedly made a visit to-"_

The television turned off with a push of the remote button, showing Nega's frustrated glare in the reflection.

"Those damned reporters! Don't they have anything else to do?"

A small Pomeranian puppy trotted down the hall and hopped into Nega's lap, jumping up and down in excitement for the human. Nega smiled and kindly petted the dog, the only source of happiness he had.

"Oh Matilda, you're the only one that understands me. Us, we're unfairly below those selfish Mobians and their ignorant mayor. Racism at its finest."

The pet merely wagged her tail and stuck her tongue out at her owner.

"With enough time, I can put those animals in their place for good." Nega stated, staring out into the night through his windows. They were draped with plain red curtains, the cheapest at the nearby furniture store.

They shifted. A naked eye wouldn't have been able to see it, but with Nega's sharp(and fashionable) eyeglasses, it was apparent there was something wrong.

Nega picked up Matilda and placed her on the couch, slowly got up, and walked to the curtains. He timidly grabbed at the fabric and got a good grip.

With one yank, the curtains were completely torn off, exposing a figure in a teal, turquoise, and gold cloak. Nega dug into the pocket of his black jacket and pointed one of his newest experiments at the intruder: a stainless steel laser gun.

"I never thought I would find an _Onyx Council_ member in my home," Nega said. "Is this a late birthday present?"

"Note quite." The Onyx member's hands weren't in the air in fear, but stiffly in place just like the rest of their body.

" _Uncanny.. Just how they're taught."_ Nega thought.

"I was hoping you'd find me." The voice was female.

The figure grabbed the hood of cloak and swiftly pulled it off. Underneath the cloak was a cream and brown coloured female rabbit with a smug on her face.

"Put the gun away. I'm not going to hurt you. I wouldn't have been hiding in such a shitty spot if I wanted to anyway."

Nega scoffed at the rabbit and put his gun away.

"The name's Peppermint. Nice place you got here.. for a human." The mobian backhandedly complimented, strolling around the apartment. Nega eyed her, and she was aware.

"What do you want from me?" Nega asked.

Peppermint spun around."I was ordered from the mayor to spy on you."

"That wretched man," Nega scoffed, "that isn't the only reason."

"You're right, it's not." Peppermint took a seat on the couch, crossing her legs and keeping contact with the other. "I'm _supposed_ to be spying on you, but I'm intrigued."

"By what?"

"I've been watching you for several days, hearing about your little rants and how you feel about our society."

Nega narrowed his eyes. What else did he expect from an Onyx Council member?

"Go on."

"I agree with you."

Nega's eyes widened in surprise behind his shades.

"Surprising huh? A _Mobian_ agreeing that we shouldn't be above humans? It's not what we would've wanted centuries ago anyway."

"What is your point?"

"Let me help you. We can overthrow the Onyx council together. You and me. Deal?" Peppermint reached her hand out for a shake.

An Onyx City council member wanting to help Nega seemed surreal, but it was happening right now. With that much power, he could do anything. Screw blowing up the planet, he could do something even _better_. Doctor Eggman Nega shook her gloved hand, something he would've cursed himself for doing only minutes ago.

"Deal."

"Let's get to know each other. How about some takeout?"

But, he had the chance, and hell, who was he not to take it?

* * *

Loud music blared through the speakers set on the green grass outside, right near the picnic table but not too close to the birthday presents. Everyone was having a good time joking and laughing, or at least that's how to looked to Silver.

For someone who could time travel in the speed of sound, the white hedgehog coming to every event late was odd but expected of him. As if he never came late at all, Silver trotted down to the small get together Cream and her mother made and everyone respectfully attended.

"Hey guys! What did I miss?" Silver asked, leaning on the picnic table. No one seemed to pay him any mind, still laughing and having a good time as if he was absent.

Silver frowned and rolled his eyes, a slight feeling of regret emerging about coming here in the first place. Everything seemed to be going fine without him anyway. He looked around at the small space used for Cream's birthday party. Sonic and Knuckles arm wrestling, Cream and Charmy dancing to the music, Espio and Shadow brooding around in silence eating cake together, Rouge and Vector.. Gambling? And Ms. Vanilla watching? The bat and the crocodile were playing cards, with a stack of money and jewels in between them, in front of children! What kind of party was this?

The regret of coming to this party grew even more in Silver, until he noticed someone that wasn't arm wrestling, dancing, eating cake, or gambling. Tails was a few metres away from the party, attempting to hide behind a tree. However it didn't conceal him, the wrapping paper or the tape well. Or the _present_. With nothing else to do, Silver walked to Tails' "secret" workshop. When he arrived, the fox was so busy ripping off tape and sticking it onto a box that he didn't notice the he was there.

"Hey Tails!"

"Agh!" The fox yelped and looked up at Silver. "Oh, it's just you Silver. I didn't notice when you arrived, sorry."

"It's fine, no one else noticed either," Silver joked. He kneeled down in the grass with Tails. "What are you doing?"

"I'm wrapping Cream's birthday present! It's a dress!" Tails exclaimed, practically bouncing up and down in excitement. "I can't wait until she opens it. I hope she loves it!"

"I bet she will," Silver encouraged. It was rare for him to see the fox this giddy.

"Hey losers!" Tails and Silver heard Sonic call to them. "We're opening the presents now! Hurry up and get over here!" The fox and the hedgehog grinned at each other and walked back to the party.

Everyone was seated around the picnic table, getting their gifts ready. "Alright everyone, we'll start with Rouge." Ms. Vanilla said. Rouge was on Ms. Vanilla's left side and Tails was on the rabbit's right, indicating his gift was going to be the last one opened. But the fox didn't see anything wrong with that; wouldn't that mean the best was saved for last?

Everyone took turns giving Cream their present, but Tails paid no attention to that. The look on Cream's face when she saw her new dress was the only thing he could think of. Finally, it was only Silver, Amy, and Tails left.

"I didn't know what you'd like, so I got you this cute doll from a popular toy store." Silver said as he gave Cream the doll.

"Thanks Mr. Silver!" Cream said, noticing a button. "What does this button do?"

Cream pressed the button, causing lasers to blast out of the doll's eyes towards Silver.

"Ahh!" The hedgehog yelped and ducked. "M-maybe you _shouldn't_ press that button."

"Let's put that down Cream," Ms Vanilla said, putting the toy away and glaring daggers at Silver for a nanosecond. "Amy, sweetheart, I see that you have a bag."

In front of Amy was a medium sized bag with yellow tissue paper stuffed inside.

"Here Cream, I hope you like it!" Amy handed the bag to her friend. "I saw it and it reminded me of you."

Cream didn't hesitate to grab the tissue paper and throw it away. Her chocolate eyes widened in happiness. It gave Tails a sick feeling in his stomach; from jealousy or nervousness, he didn't know.

The rabbit took out a beautiful, knee length dress. It was embellished in jewels and rose petals, matching the colour of the rose gold silk it was made of. Cream's heart jumped. Tails' heart dropped.

It was the same dress that he bought.

"Oh, thank you Amy! I love it!" Cream jumped off the bench and gave Amy a hug.

Tails felt sick, a series of thoughts going through his mind. This _wasn't_ supposed to happen.

"Uh, Amy," Tails said under his breath so only Amy could hear. "Can we talk for a second?"

"Huh? About what?"

"It's personal."He replied. "We'll be right back!" He told the rest, before picking up his gift and leading Amy away to an area far enough that no one could hear them. When they reached a secluded log he looked Amy in the eye.

"Remember when we saw each other at the mall last week?"

"Uh, yeah." Amy said, confused.

Due to coincidental circumstances, Tails and Amy saw each other at a mall in downtown Station Square. Tails was buying a box for the present he'd got for Cream's birthday party, the exact reason why Amy was there to buy Cream a gift that day as well.

"And remember when you told me about a dress you were planning to buy for Cream?"

"Yeah."

"And I told you not to buy it because _I_ already bought the dress for her?"

Amy widened her eyes.. "What?"

"It's in this," Tails pointed at the present in his hand, "box."

"You didn't tell me anything."

"Yes I did." Tails narrowed his eyes in frustration.

"No you didn't!"

"Did you not pay attention to what I said?" Tails glared at her, balling his free hand into a fist. "You act like what I say doesn't matter!"

"I.." Amy froze, dumbstruck.

"Are you gonna say anything?"

"Maybe if you stopped running your mouth we would listen to you more." Amy sneered.

Tails was at a loss for words. He felt as if his heart stopped, and could feel his mouth turning dry. His stomach churned, a wave of nausea hitting him and causing his head to spin. The fox turned to stone, not moving an inch.

What?

Amy ran back to the picnic table without looking back at Tails, leaving him in the dust. Cream's gift fell from his grip and landed in the grass. With his head held low, Tails walked to the dead log and sat on it, dropping his head in his hands. The same thought ran through his mind over and over again; Amy was right.

"Mr. Tails?"

Tails looked up from the ground to see Cream, with her hands behind her back and a frown on her face.

"You've been sitting here for 10 minutes. Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking…" Tails spoke colourlessly.

Cream noticed the wrapped gift. "Is that for me?" She asked.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter." Tails deeply sighed. "It's the same as Amy's."

"Oh.." Cream paused, putting something in her pocket. She picked up the box, ripped off its wrapping paper, and opened it, revealing the dress that was identical to the one she saw earlier.

"I love it just as much as Amy's." Cream smiled at Tails, who delivered a pout back.

Two is always better than one."

"Really." Tails wasn't completely convinced, but he was content with her trying to comfort him.

"Yeah," Cream smiled. "By the way, I have a gift for you too!"

Tails watched Cream put her hand in her pocket, curious. "Why? It's not my birthday."

"I know you like watches, and I heard Mr. Sonic tell my mom that you broke one of yours."

Cream took out a stainless golden watch. Small diamonds circled the miniature clock, reflecting off the sun and shining as if they were real brand new.

"I uh, found it." Cream nervously said."You can use it just in case."

Tails' eyes were glued to the watch. He became enveloped in warmth, and the air was getting thick. He needed to breathe, why couldn't be breath-

"Hey lovebirds!"

Sonic called to the two younger Mobians, taking their attention away from each other. "Get over here! It's something important!"

"Are you okay Mr. Tails?" Cream asked the fox.

"I... yeah. I'm fine"

Cream gave the watch to Tails and they walked back to the picnic table. Tails hid it away from his range of eyesight.

"I just got a heads up from G.U.N," Shadow spoke, "the doctor's up to no good."

Everyone started to protest going to Eggman's base, causing an outcry.

"Alright, alright!" Vector raised his voice over everyone. "We can't _all_ go. So who's going?"

Silver watched in silence.

"Vector! Vector! Can we go? I wanna kick Egghead's butt! I love kicking Egghead butt! But can we go after more cak-"

"Vector, it wouldn't be wise of us to go with Charmy in his.. chaotic state." Espio stated, the crocodile nodding in agreement. Rouge cleared her throat.

"Shadow and I should go. We have some unfinished business to take care of."

"I disagree."

Everyone turned to the cobalt hedgehog.

"It's been too long since I've seen the old man. I think team Sonic should go." Sonic claimed, putting his arm around Knuckles' shoulder. He shrugged it off.

"Why should your group go to Eggman's base?" Shadow protested at Sonic. "We have an investigation to do."

"Tell ya' what, Shads," Sonic teased, "I'll let you and Rouge go...

if you win rock paper scissors with me."

"You idiot, of course I'll win, I'm the _ultimate lifeform_."

"Shadow, don't do this!" Rouge said.

"Rouge, I'm the ultimate lifeform. I've won these pathetic games countless times.

Sonic and Shadow looked each other in the eye.

Silver continued to watch in silence.

Tails wondered what would happen if he went to Eggman's base. What if this was his chance?

"Rock.."

He could take advantage of it.

"Paper.."

 _No..._ that's not like him.

"Scissors!"

But maybe a change of heart is okay.

"..."

Sonic's balled fist met with Shadow's peace sign. The blue hedgehog won. Shadow's eyes widened.

"Shadow, you idiot!" Rouge cursed at the ebony hedgehog.

"Don't worry Rouge. Knuckles, Tails, and I will have everything under control. Right boys?" Sonic confidently glanced at his two best friends.

"I'm always ready to beat some egg ass." Knuckles balled his fists and smirked.

"What about you Tails, you comin' or what?" The hedgehog looked at Tails.

Thoughts raced through the fox's mind. Should he change his ways?

No, that's selfish. But...

" _Maybe if you stopped running your mouth we would listen to you more."_

Everyone needs a change of heart sometimes.

Tails snapped back to reality and looked his brother straight in his emerald eyes, mustered every ounce of boldness in his body, and grinned.

"Of course."

"Well, team Sonic is going to Eggman's base then!" Sonic exclaimed. "See you all later, we'll be back in a second!"

Tails sprinted with Sonic and Knuckles to Eggman's base, leaving everyone, including Silver, and his past self behind. He wasn't going to be invisible anymore, he wouldn't allow it.

This was his moment, and there was _no_ turning back.


	6. The Trigger

**UPDATE:** **Okay, so, I wasn't happy with this chapter so I rewrote it. I don't expect anyone to read it but it makes me happier knowing that this version is out there. Also, thank you for the reviews. I saw other authors answer their reviews in their chapters and I think that's a good idea, so I'll do it too.**

 **Leodragon678: yeah, it's not good. but Tails will be fiiine... eventually.**

 **Skye Izumi: I guess I should edit the first chapter too then, but there's no reason to be rude about it, sheesh. I asked for _constructive_ criticism, not rude criticism. :/**

 **Anyways, if you're reading this, thanks and happy reading! It always surprises me when people actually read and review my fanfiction.**

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Chapter Five - The Trigger

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles ran from the small park that held Cream's birthday party past downtown Station square, through a creek, and finally to an open field; a beautiful area full of green grass and a bed of flowers, slowly disappearing and dying as they inched closer to Doctor Eggman's base.

"Hey, look at that sunset." Knuckles smiled at the planet that was slowly turning the sky a gorgeous orange-red .

Wait.. the red wasn't coming from the sky.

"Where's that smoke coming from?" Knuckles asked.

That got the other's attention. Once again, red smoke rose from Dr. Eggman's base, slowly disappearing into the air. The three stopped running to stare at it.

"Tails...isn't that the red smoke from before?" Sonic looked at Tails.

His sky blue eyes widened, remembering seeing the smoke previously.

"I think so."

"We need to find out what Egghead's doing, asap." Without warning Sonic ran to the laboratory, Tails and Knuckles following suit.

The way the three entered the base was always quirky and different. Tails recalled flying on the top on the roof and Knuckles punching a wall through the ceiling so they could all meet Eggman "in style", Sonic's words of course. Or another time that cited Knuckles digging into the ground, leading the other two boys under Eggman's base, and Sonic spindashing the floor to pieces, only to catch the doctor taking a bath.

Tails shivered at the thought. _Never_ again.

But this time, the main entrance was ajar. With nothing to fear, the mobians entered the base. The main room, where the fighting was usually done, was dimly lit with nothing in sight.

"Something isn't right." Knuckles stated the obvious.

"Maybe G.U.N alerted Shadow for the red smoke," Tails spoke, "What should we do Sonic?"

Sonic shrugged.

"Knuckles?" Tails asked the echidna.

"I dunno." Knuckles answered.

"What do you think bro?" The cobalt hedgehog asked.

Tails stopped for a moment to think.

"...go back?" Tails sheepishly asked.

Sonic lidded his eyes and frowned in distaste. "Tails, sometimes you have to make moves. You can't play it safe forever." Tails eyed the metallic floor beneath him in sadness.

Sonic ruffled his hair. "There's no need to be sad bud! Let's go find out where that smoke is coming from."

Sonic took a single step. A siren sounded throughout the entire base, brightening the room with red lights.

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!" A voice echoed.

Metal screens closed all possible entrances including doors and windows, leaving the room pitch black save for the red headlights.

"I can't see anything," Sonic blurted. "What about you guys?"

"I'm blind as a bat." Knuckled said.

Tails scanned his surroundings. Even through his night vision he couldn't see anything.

"No." Anxiety was slowly creeping through Tails. He shifted closer to Sonic.

Several television screens adjacent to one another turned on at the same time. The brightness made the three mobians squint their eyes and wince in pain. Dr. Eggman appeared on the screen.

"Long time no see pests!" Dr. Eggman had a maniacal grin on his face. "Did you like my trap?"

Sonic rolled his eyes.

"So Egghead, you finally got a security system eh?" He placed his hands on his hips and teased.

"I don't need your jokes, you rodent!" Eggman spat back.

He started typing incoherent coding onto the keyboard before him with a look of determination on his face, glaring at the appliance with his grin only increasing in size.

"But while you're here, why not be my lab rat for my new invention?"

A large garage shifted open, revealing badniks marching out from the dark into the dingy room. Sonic spindashed a row of them, leaving a pile of scrapped metal. Knuckles plowed through robots in seconds and sent them flying in the air before doing the same to the next poor attackers in his eyesight. Tails jumped on badniks, breaking them to pieces. In less than five minutes they were all destroyed.

"I know you weren't hiding in this manhole for weeks," Sonic pointed at the piles of wasted metal, "to give us this."

"Ho ho ho! We're only warming up!"

Troops of E-1000 robots advanced from the garage, readying their lasers and shooting any being in sight. The three dodged the bullets, weaving their way through the creations and rubble before attacking them once again. More and more appeared from the darkness, and it didn't seem like they were stopping anytime soon.

Tails spindashed as many E-1000's as he could, but more replicas were surrounding him than he could take. The robots twice his size inched closer and closer.

"SEARCHING FOR TARGET." The robots said in harmony. Tails panted, his eyes widening. He backed up to avoid the robot, to only bump into another one. He stood frozen in fear, not knowing what to think.

"TARGET ACQUIRED."

Sonic rolled under an E-1000, grabbing his brother and speeding back under another. The robots fired at each other, turning to fine dust in nanoseconds.

"Whew, that was a close one!" Sonic dusted himself off, smirking. "You okay Tails?"

Dazed and confused, the fox nodded in response.

"Try not to take on more than you can handle." Sonic scolded. "Don't worry, Knuckles and I have everything under control." The hedgehog winked at the other before jumping back into the

Tails frowned, feeling disappointed in himself for the umpteenth time. Without his tornado, he couldn't do anything right.

Dozens of ceiling lights turned on, brightening the room and tinting it from red to white. Two ceiling panels opened wide, and a red cloud of smoke filled the room. It tickled Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails' lungs, causing them to uncontrollably cough. Slowly plunging to the floor was a small device holding up a metal box with a projector attached to it. It produced a thick red smog. The screens that previously showed Dr. Eggman's face had turned off, leaving the doctor to be nowhere in sight.

"Do you like it?"

The voice came from the open garage door, catching everyone's attention. Out came Dr. Eggman in his trademark vehicle - the Egg Mobile.

"I call it the Egg Era!"

"The Egg Era?" Knuckles stopped jabbing at E-1000 pieces to ask. "I don't get the name Egghead."

"I don't expect you to Knuckles," Dr. Eggman boasted, earning a glare from the echidna.

"It's called the Egg Era because the era of you scrawny rodents is finally over! Maybe another generation will enjoy your company!"

The Egg Era rotated to Sonic and projected a ball of energy at him, the hedgehog quickly moving out of the way. It hit the robot behind him and it disappeared into thin air.

"What the hell?" Knuckles exclaimed, puzzled.

"Whatever is touched by the bullets is travelled back in time - thirty years prior!"

Dr. Eggman shot bullets at the three, who now had to dodge and attack three different weapons in a cloud of suffocating smoke. Jumping away from a bullet - no, a laser, he couldn't tell anymore, Tails panted, resulting in another fit of coughing.

"The smoke is a nice touch isn't it?" Dr. Eggman fondled his moustache. "A nice man gave me some engines for a great deal, and some extra vacuum cleaners!" The evil villain pointed to a small vacuum cleaner that also emitted red smog.

"Ow!"

Tails heard Sonic yelp and watched him stumble to the ground, seething in pain.

"Sonic!" He called out to him.

Sonic slowly got up, visibly in pain but smirking, attempting to hide it.

"Don't.. Worry Tails. That won't stop me." He said as he half-limped to another robot.

The attacks were getting difficult, even for Sonic. If he or Knuckles got hurt, it would be Tails' fault. All he did was stand around all the time, useless to everyone. He always let people down...

 _"_ _Miles, help us!"_

 _"_ _Miles-"_

No. This wasn't the time for flashbacks.

He had to do something quick. This was his moment. Tails could save Sonic and Knuckles somehow, and he would be known as a hero once and for all. He would be on the billboards just like everyone else. He just needed to figure out how.

"TARGET ACQUIRED."

Tails turned around to see a laser heading his way and gasped, ducking to dodge it. He noticed it blast into the back of the Egg Era, tearing a piece of it apart and exposing its wires.

The wires…

 _That's it._

The fox ran towards the Egg Era, picking up a jagged piece of scrap metal along the way.

"What are you doing foxboy? Don't touch that!" Dr. Eggman cried out to Tails, but he was ignored.

"Tails, what are you doing?" Sonic yelled after spindashing the head off of an E-1000 and dodging the Egg Era's bullet.

"If I cut the wires of the Egg Era, it'll cause the electrical current to short-circuit, resulting in the machine to malfunction," Tails rushed as he pulled out a heap of wires from the small box. A sudden jolt of energy travelled down his spine and made him shiver, waking him up. He ignored it.

"Don't do that you pest!" Eggman frowned and his eyebrows furrowed in worry and…utter fear. "There's so much energy in that machine that it could cause this whole base to explode!"

" **What?** " Sonic whipped his head to Dr. Eggman, and then to Tails, concern etched onto his face. "Tails, get away from there!"

But the fox didn't hear anyone. The sound of E-1000's simultaneously marching towards him and announcing "SEARCHING FOR TARGET" filled his ears. He folded them to to try to mute the volume, but Tails could still hear them loud and clear. There wasn't any way to get help from Sonic this time.

"Sonic, we gotta get out of here," Knuckles grabbed the hedgehog. "You heard the man!"

"N-no! Tails!" Sonic's voice cracked as he attempted to call out to his brother, fighting against Knuckles' hold. But it was no use; the echidna was stronger.

Tails gripped the sharp metal in his hand tightly, tearing the fabric of his white gloves.

Dr. Eggman stepped on the gas of the Egg Mobile, starting to accelerate towards the opening in the ceiling. Knuckles grasped onto its wing, guiding him and Sonic out of the base with Dr. Eggman leading the way.

"TARGET ACQUIRED." Dozens of robots said in harmony.

It was now or never.

Tails whipped the jagged metal onto the mechanical wires, recklessly slashing the heap of them into two and sealing his eyes shut.

The base burst violently, shaking the ground beneath it and sending scraps of metal, robots, and a cloud of dark red smoke into the air.

* * *

 **Oh no! Tails is dead! Can we hit five likes :(((**

 **;)))**


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